The Roller Skates

The Conversation

When I got home, I found mom in the living room intensely watching tv with my two big sisters, Christy and Jessica. I stood in the doorway.

Christy saw me first. Her eyes skimming up and down my body.

"Oh. My. Gosh." She murmured under her breath, eyes widened.

She turned and tapped Jessica, who was too fixated on whatever was on television to notice me.

Christy whispered something to Jessica. Jessica's eyes sharply flickering to me. Her eyes widened as they trailed up and down my bloody body.

If you watch closely, you could see how Christy and Jessica sometimes act like identical twins, rather than just sisters.

Jessica murmured something to mom. Mom nodded, never taking her eyes off the tv screen.

Christy and Jessica got up, dragged me out of the living room, sat me down in the kitchen, and took a First Aid kit out of a drawer.

"Please explain to me why you thought roller skating in shorts was a good idea, Jazmine." Christy asked. Rather rudely might I add.

"Please explain to me why you're being such a Coccydynia, Christy." I said in a snotty voice, mocking her.

"Hey, hey, you two. Stop fighting!" Jessica interrupted.

Christy's eyes narrowed. She grabbed the rubbing alcohol and poured some of it on my wounds. I cried out. She smirked. I just glared at her.

"Christy!!" Jessica warned.

Christy sighed. "Fine." She said reluctantly.

Its funny that, although Christy and Jessica act alike, somehow, someway, Jess turned out to be the non-violent child.

After Christy finished cleaning my wounds, Jessica took over. She started bandaging my hands and knees.

We sat in a cozy silence, neither of us seemed to mind.

I blurted out. "I'm thinking about quitting roller skating!"

"Wait, what. Why?!" Jessica said, shocked.

"Because..." I started to say, but stopped.

"Because what?" Jessica asked, reaching over and putting her hand on my shoulder, giving it an encouraging squeeze. I gave her a tiny smile.

"Because these types of things leave scars," I stated, pointing to my hands and knees. "And trying to keep them from happening is pointless because it's a way of life, but just think of all the risks I'm taking with my life when I'm roller skating. Think of what that accident would be like, compared to what just happen. Like if I had accidently rolled into the street or something, and a car just came barreling down the road. That event would be far more worse than the pain that I feel now." I explained to her, tears running down my face, body shaking.

Jessica took a deep breath. "I know that you're scared, but you can't just stop roller skating just because you feel like you're taking a huge life-threatening risk. If you think about it you're taking life-threatening risks everyday. You take a risk just by crossing the street, or just by handling a pair of scissors. But do you stop doing those things?" She asked. I shook my head sharply.

No... I don't. I thought. I never even considered those things as life-threatening risks. Maybe it's because I basically do them on a daily basis that they seem so neutral.

"No? That's what I thought." She said. "My point is that you can't just hide, and stop doing everyday things just to avoid life-threatening situations. Even then, if you wanted to do that, the only way to do so will be to crawl into a ditch and not move, ever. But even then there would be risks." Jessica began to further explain.

"For example, you could accidentally bump into, or touch the wrong pile of rocks. Then they could come cascading down on you, or someone could come along and go 'Oh my gosh. this is a pretty deep hole. Someone could get hurt' and then they could close the ditch with a pile of dirt, or cement, or something but-" She stopped suddenly, and blinked, like she was just realizing what she was saying. Then she continued. "Anywho... That's not the point either. The real important thing here is that no matter what you do, there will always be risks. You will be scared, but you cannot, and I repeat CANNOT, just give up just because you feel that it is dangerous. You know what I mean?" She asked, finally finishing what she had to say. She finished the bandages halfway through her lecture. They were impeccable.

I grinned, wiping the tears from my face. "Yeah. I know what you mean."I said, giving her a hug. "Thanks Jess." I told her, speed-limping to my room.

"Any time." I heard her chuckle behind me.

Making it to my room, I carefully slid into my pajamas, then laid in bed. I pondered upon all the enlightening advice Jess had just given, before falling into a peaceful, but painful sleep.

The End